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From European Voice's Entre-Nous column

11/27/02, 5:00 PM CET

Updated 4/23/14, 8:24 PM CET

When sending a letter to someone it usually helps to know who you’re sending it to.

That is something Gerrit Braks, chairman of the Dutch Senate, will know only too well after he complained he had not received a reply to a letter he wrote recently to the chairman of the European Parliament’s citizens’ freedoms and rights committee.

The only problem is that Palacio ceased to be an MEP – and committee chairman – when appointed Spain’s foreign affairs minister during the summer.

The subject of the letter – closer cooperation between the Dutch Senate and the European Parliament – prompted one Liberal MEP to quip: “It’s a wonderful objective, but it would help if you know who you are writing to before you complain about not getting a reply!”

There is something splendidly parochial about the state-aid investigation launched last week by the European Commission’s competition department into JC Decaux, a French advertising company. The question …